Henrikh Mkhitaryan strikes late to save Arsenal’s unbeaten run against Wolves

Henrikh Mkhitaryan in full flight down the Wolves right. The Armenian scored Arsenal’s late equaliser.
Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images via Reuters

When the fourth official raised the board to show there would be five minutes of stoppage time, the Arsenal support booed and the manager, Unai Emery, gestured unhappily.

The home team had just equalised through the substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan and felt the momentum was with them. They wanted longer in order to find the winner. This is the kind of belief Emery has engendered. Arsenal fight until the finish and they throw everything into attack.

Yet to think Wolves were finished or somehow hanging on for the draw was a mistake. Nuno Espírito Santo’s team had shown slick passing, creativity and incision on the break and they would be the ones who almost snatched the victory.

First the substitute Adama Traoré sprinted on to a long ball and jinked inside Rob Holding to leave himself with only Bernd Leno to beat. Not for the first time the Arsenal goalkeeper made a vital block. And then, with virtually the last kick of a pulsating game, another Wolves substitute, Morgan Gibbs-White, unfurled a rising drive from distance that beat Leno and crashed down off the underside of the crossbar. For a heart-stopping moment, everyone wondered whether the ball had bounced over the line. It had not. Arsenal could exhale in relief.

What a finish it was because on 85 minutes, with Wolves holding the lead given to them early on by Ivan Cavaleiro, they had almost made the game safe. Traoré was prominently involved in the counterattacking move – so was Raúl Jiménez – and, when the ball was worked to the substitute Diogo Jota on the overlap, he looked favourite to score. Leno would block.

Back came Arsenal, who had advertised the equaliser during a stirring second half. One of their substitutes, Aaron Ramsey, tiptoed into a dangerous area, spun and shot only for Rui Patrício to save.

The ball went out for a corner and, for perhaps the only time all day, Wolves lapsed. Granit Xhaka played it short to Ramsey, he moved it back to Mkhitaryan and, when he was allowed to cross under no pressure and Pierre‑Emerick Aubameyang made no contact with his attempted header, the ball carried on into the far corner.

Emery argued Arsenal deserved to win, which was debatable, while Nuno said any result could have played out, which was indisputable. What was plain was Wolves had showed once again they can compete anywhere. After their draws with both of the Manchester clubs, this was another eye-catching result. “Nuno’s the Special One,” sang the travelling fans. Who was going to argue?

Wolves arrived on a three-game Premier League losing run but they were disciplined at the back and balanced in their 3-4-3 formation. Their goal stemmed from a Xhaka misjudgment and yet it was underpinned by slickness.

Sead Kolasinac, who was erratic throughout, played a pass towards Xhaka and the midfielder erred when he dummied it to no one. Cavaleiro picked up possession, he rolled it wide right to Jiménez and charged past Xhaka into the six-yard box. Jiménez’s low return was well weighted; Cavaleiro finished inside the near corner.

The half-time damage might have been heavier and it has to be a worry for Emery that Arsenal are one of only two teams in the league not to have led a game at the interval this season; Cardiff are the other.

Wolves had the big chance for 2-0 on the break in the 24th minute. The excellent Hélder Costa led the charge and, having beaten Holding, he streaked into the area before cutting back inside Holding and shooting. Leno sprang to his right to save. He would collect the loose ball in front of Jiménez.Leno also dived to repel a Costa shot on 27 minutes.

Arsenal fired only in fits and starts in the first half. Alexandre Lacazette bought himself a yard inside the area from Mesut Özil’s cross and saw his shot superbly blocked by Conor Coady, while Ryan Bennett headed a Héctor Bellerín shot that looked bound for the top corner to safety.

Emery switched to a 4-3-1-2 system for the second half and Arsenal revived, even if Özil was off-colour. Lucas Torreira forced Patrício to tip over a long-range fizzer; Bellerín fired high when well placed and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the post from close range when he should have scored.

Arsenal extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 16 matches, having survived the breathless finale, but it was Wolves who could reflect with the greater pride.

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